Lane Kiffin calls out reporter who linked him with Auburn job, reaffirms commitment to Ole Miss

If Lane Kiffin learned anything from this drama-filled offseason, it’s that Ole Miss is where he belongs. The Rebels coach had a chance to leave and take the job at Auburn, but ultimately turned the Tigers down to return to Oxford for a fourth year.

He opened up about that decision in a recent ESPN article, and again reflected in a Tuesday press conference on why he chose to stay. As he fielded his first question on the matter, he couldn’t help but crack a joke at the expense of reporter Jon Sokoloff, who infamously reported back in November that Kiffin had accepted the Auburn job.

“It’s interesting you ask that on the first day I’ve seen John in a long time. Good to see you, John,” Kiffin said with a smile. “See, I did say (in the article) obstacle is the way, so I do find a way to turn everything positive. I appreciate John for creating all that chaos that he created with his false information. But that allowed us to work through it and, like I said in the article, help our collective. So really our fans and our collective should thank John for that.”

After ribbing Sokoloff, Kiffin approached the topic from a more serious standpoint. He explained that the ESPN interview allowed him the chance to think about everything in depth for really the first time since it happened.

He admitted that he might have made a different decision in the past. In fact, Kiffin jumped from Tennessee to USC after just one season in 2010 before being fired by the Trojans a little more than three years later. However, going through all that has given him a different perspective, and has come to see Oxford as home.

“I probably hadn’t really analyzed it as much as when he starts asking me (questions),” Kiffin said. “Then you have to. Or I don’t realize things like when he says, ‘This is 10 years from when you were fired’ and ‘did you think you’d be back here?’ You don’t go through those things as much as you would think. …If you have not lived in Mississippi, especially Oxford, you have this picture of what it’s like. …So I would not have thought 10 years ago or even a few years ago that I would be the head coach in the state of Mississippi and that I would be choosing to stay.

“I’m very real in our interviews versus a lot of what coaches say and I would say I would not have predicted that. I would not predict that you were not just here, (but that) when you came here you made a decision to come here over another premier offer and now you’ve had some since you’ve been here and decided to stay. It just shows that you can’t predict the future. You have no idea what’s going to happen and don’t make a lot of comparisons. Be where your feet are and be happy where you’re at.”

Lane Kiffin is 23-13 in his three seasons at Ole Miss and coming off of back-to-back winning seasons. The Rebels began last year 7-0 before going 1-5 over their final six games, so he’ll hope to get back on track to start 2023.

But after all the offseason rumors and speculation, he wouldn’t be anywhere else.

Family played big role in Lane Kiffin staying at Ole Miss

Kiffin explained that having his children with him in Oxford has also helped him to see it as home. His son, Knox is constantly around the Rebels practices.

His oldest daughter, Landry, moved to Oxford recently and will attend Ole Miss in the fall. His other daughter, McKenzie Lola, is also moving to be with her dad and siblings. With all that coming together, he didn’t want to uproot and move to a new city.

“There’s not a day that doesn’t go by that I’m not grateful for Oxford, for Ole Miss,” he said. “Especially with Landry here as you guys know and her friends at the house. Her decision to move here and now her decision to go to Ole Miss. As you get older, you’re never going to be able to replace that time with your children. I remember being at the neighbors’ prom and going over a year ago because he asked me to take pictures. Take that big picture of everybody. I’m going, ‘man, somebody else’s prom. I don’t get to see my own first child’s prom.’ So pretty neat to spin forward one year later because she ends up moving that next week. To be over there and take pictures and see her there is really neat.

“That’s just a reminder that probably was a better line at the time because we had won 10 games, but saying that I needed Oxford and Ole Miss much more than they needed me. So I think people thought that was neat when I said it, but they might be saying now, ‘we don’t need you’ after the bowl game. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not appreciative for my opportunity here and the support here.”